Chart



W. R. WILLIAMSON.

CHARL APPLICATION FILED MAY I3, |921.

Patented June 6,1922..A

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fle/W By w. R. WILLIAMSON.

CHART. APPLICATION FILED MAY f3, |921.

11mm June 6,1922.

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il STA d i WILLIAM R. WILLIAMSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CHART.

LLSQYGS. Specification of Letters Patent. Pgltntgd JHM@ 6, 1922Application filed May 13, 1921. Serial No. l69,157.

T0 zZZw/wmtom-.y/ concer/a: Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Be itknown that l, Winnaar R. limpiar- Fig.' 2. h p y SON, a citizen of theUnited States of Amer- Big. G is a section on the line 6 6 of ica, and aresident of Chicago, county of F1g. 2. H L (look, and State of Illinois,have invented Fig 7 is a section on the line 1 of certain new and usefulImprovements in Fig. 2. Charts, of Which the following is a speciiica-Flag. 8 1S a SeClOn on the llne 8 8 of tion. Fig. 2.

This invention relates to current record display means, and particularlyto cartographie methods and devices of mechani cal character such as maybe applied for instance to the art of sales organization andsupervision.

The main objects of the invention are to provide more efficient displaymethods and means therefor of improved form, including some of thefeatures both of charts and of' cabinets, adapted to facilitate therecording, presentation and comparison of data based on the humanelements of a competitive organization such as a sales force or thelike; to provide a cartographie or similar device adapted for readychange and adjustment to shovr the relative current standing of a numberof individuals or groups; to provide Such a device, preferably incabinet form, adapted for the ready collection and display ofstatistical data such as may be considered essential in connection withcontests betWeen individuals or to show the standing of teams engaged ina contest; to provide ready -means for frequent setting or adjustment ofsuch a device to show current changes and progress; and to provide sucha device adapted to show quotas, relative degreesv of accomplishment,and bonus bases and the like.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention, showing particularly hovvit may be lused as a comprehensive scoreboard in a salescampaign, shownin the accompanying drawings, in Whichf Fig. 1. is a front. eleva ion ofa cabinet form of device embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail showing one of tlie individual data stripsor bars used in said device. said bar being'broken medially and the leftend part being sh'oivn above the right end part.

Fig.A 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, the viewbeing broken medially and the left side beingshown above the right side.v

Fig. t is a detail of one of the strips With the medial part brokenaway.

Referring to the drawings, the device, Which as a Whole I have dominateda comparigraph, comprises a cabinet 1 including a peripheral frame part2 of rectangular shape and a plurality of detachable strips 3 and 8 inthe form of bars mounted interchangeably on said frame part. The devicemay be designed manifestly for mountingthe bars either horizontally orvertically, but for most purposes the bars may to best advantage bearranged horizontally in compact relation as shown. The bars 3 serve astitle strips whereby different groups of data bars 3 may bedistinguished.

rIhe said cabinet has a closed back 1 and is provided on its front sideWith a Glasspaneled door a which is hinged to the frame 2 at 5. Afastening for the door is provided on the opposite side of said frame ato. The upright lateral frame posts 7 are adapted to engage and supportthe said bars, as will be more fully explained.

Each bar 3 (see Fig. 4f) comprises a frame or body part 8 and certainother parts including means adapted lto secure the bar to the frameposts T and means for displaying and interpreting the required data,both permanent and current. The said body part 8 is rectangular as aWhole and includes three block sections 9, 10', and 1l, spaced apart inalinement with roller apertures between, as at 12 and 13, in combinationwith side plates 1li for securing said sections together, and aplurality of guide strips, flanges, and similar attachments fixedthereon, as Will be described. The right end of the right block 1l isprovided with a rigid projection 15 to engage one of the apertures 16 onthe right frame post, and the left end of the left block 9 has ayielding fastener 17 to engage one of the apertures 18 inthe left post.The divergent forwardly projecting handles 19 at the ends facilitateremoval of the bars.

Each bar 3 is provided with a plurality of relatively movable scalestrips 21, 22, and 23 and a corresponding set of slidably mountedindices 2a, 25, and 26 each adapted for adjustable setting. Anothersimilar index 27 is also provided as will be explained. 'l`he said strip21 is iixed to the upper edge of the face of the bar, and the strips 22and 23, which are movablelongitudinally, are in the form or' belts,preferably made of tape, carried on rollers 29 and 30 which are mountedin the apertures 12 and 13 at the ends of the middle block section 10,short shafts 31 therefor being set in and carried by the side plates 14and the short partition 32. The said partitions are inthe form oitplates disposed across each oli' said apertures, dividing same unequallyto correspond with the width of the belts, the upper being considerablywider than the lower. (See Figs. 2 and 4.)

Each of the scale belts 22 and 23 includes a resilient equalizer in theform of a tension spring 35 connect-ing the ends of the strip, andmidway between said ends is a mechanical Zero indicator and stop in theform of an eyelet 36 set in the belt. All three et the scale strips areprovided with similar scale marks and numerals. The top scale measuresfrom lett to right 1 to 100. Each of the belt scales measures inopposite directions from the indicator 36, or zero point, up to 100. Atthe left end ot the belt-ways and fixed to the block 9 is a stop in theform of a plate 39, preferably transparent, with notches 40 opposite thezero point of scale 21 and in line with the travel of the belt eyelets36. A similar de* vice 42 is provided at the right end of the belts onblock 11 with notches 43 opposite the hundred mark on scale 21.

In order to accommodate the springs 35, the back part of the bar 3 ischambered at 45, this being provided for by making the middle block 10thinner than the end blocks.

The front side of each bar 3 is provided on the left end withlongitudinal retainers 47 secured to block 9 -tor card strips 48 or thelike, said strips being interchangeable and adapted for thesubstitut-ion ot new data or designating legends from time to time, asfor instance the names of persons or orA ganized groups. Each retainer47 is in the form of a sheet metal plate having its sides turned upwardand inward and having its inner end notched in registry with the notches40 in plate 39. A short colored strip 50 is also provided at the lettend of each card 48 for conventional designation of territory, forinstance, did'erent colors being used on dii'lierent bars or groups ofbars.

The wide belt 22 is graduated black on white to the left from its Zeropoint 36 and white on black to the right. The narrow belt 23 isgraduated either black on white or on some other color to the left fromits zero point and white on black to t-he right. The indices 24, 25, 26and 27 are to advantage distinguished by colors as well as by theirpositions relative to one another.

The face of block 10 is longitudinally grooved medially at 52 and at theupper and lower corners as at 53 and 54 to receive the inner parts oitthe corresponding indices which slide therein. Retaining strips 55 and56, which may be made ot liber, are secured to the block ridges 57 and58 between the grooves, and the inner parts of the indices are engagedand the indices held in place b the projecting edges oit said strips.The si e plates 14 extend far enough to assist in retaining and guidingthe outer indices 24, 26, and 27. The fixed scale strip 21 overlies andis attached to the upper part of strip 55 and the belt 22 rides over thelower part. The belt 23 rides over strip 56.

There are many situations in which this invention may be applied togreat advantage, but for the purpose of specific illustration, its usewill be described as applied by the head of a sales departn'lent havinga. number of salesmen covering` respective territories.

Referring to l, the performance ot' nine salesmen, J. J. H., C. R. R.,et cetera, for the current month to date is shown at the top, the datebeing for instance the 20th of September, 1917.

Referring new to an individual bar shown on a large scale in Eig. 2, thestatus of salesman A. B. C. is apparent. Assuming that the scales readin terms oit thousands of dollars, the position ol' eyelet 36 indicatesthat the sales for the irst twenty days (i. e. to date) amount to$50,000.00, the quota for the month being $71,500.00 as shown by theright upper index, and the required minimum olf $27,500.00 designated bythe left upper index being far exceeded. The index 25 designates an$80,000.00 goal set by the salesman either arbitrarily or on any basishe may choose, it being understood that any excess over the stated quotais made the basis of a bonus proportionate to such excess, the excesshere aimed :tor being 338,500.00. The :further sales necessary to reachthis goal may be read on the middle scale, namely $30,000.00.

The lowermost index 26 isset on the rst day ol? the month to indicatethe total sales for the corresponding month of the next preceding year1916, namely $60,000.00, and is not moved during the month.

The setting shown indicates that the salesman is only $11,500.00 short ohis last years total for that month. The position of the lower scaleeyelet 36 indicates the amount of sales, namely $25,000.00, up to thecorresponding day of said previous mont-h. The advance 01' the upperbelt past the lower represents the excess of sales for the correspondingpart ot the present month over the previous, namely $25,000.00.

It is to be understood that in some instances more scale belts may berequired than here shown, and that this invention is not limited to anyspecific number of scales or belts on each bar.

Referring' to the next group of bars, indicating individual totals forthe year to date, the same principles are applied, each scale unit,however, representing a larger value, say twelve times the value of ascale unit on the monthly bars.

Referring to the team record at the bottom of the chart, each bar issimilar to the individual record bars above described, and may representeither monthly or yearly standings, preferably the latter, though thedifference lies merely in the unit values assigned.

This chart may be readily kept up by an assistant or clerk, merely bymaintaining a system of punctual reports on the kpart of the individualsand immediately setting the in dices accordingly. In the case ofsalesmen on the road, photographic copies of the chart record may bemailed to them from time to time, so that the full psychologicalbenefits of the correlation effected may be attained.

In case the chart is used in connection with a factory or other concernwhere the individuals may readily pass the chart each day, it is onlynecessary to display it in some convenient place for direct inspection.

The scales may of course be read in terms of other values than money, asfor instance, units of production, service or the like.

Small holes 60 are provided Vin the left frame post 7 forinterchangeable reception of designation means such as tacks 6l oppositeeach bar position, whereby the relative standing of the contestants-represented by the respective bars may be indicated for some otherperiod of time than that indicated on the bar itself. For instance, theheads of the interchangeable tacks 61 may be numbered from l up to thetotal number of contestants, in this instance 9 for the current monthand 10 for the totals to date, one of the contestants, J. M. C., beingonly in the totals contest. Vhile one party may be high for the currentmonth he may be low in the totals, due perhaps to one or more very lowpreceding periods.

As the bars are interchangeable they may be kept in the order of currentmerit, as in the lower half of Fig. l, instead of changing the tacks 61as in the top half.

Although but on specific embodiment of this invention has been hereinshown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of theconstruction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from thespirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

l. A bar comprising a pair of side plates, a series of blocks mountedrigidly between said plates in spaced relation, including a middle blockand two end blocks, pulleys mounted in the spaces at the ends of themiddle block, and a belt on said pulleys, saidy middle block and belthaving commensurate scales thereon.

2. An indicator strip, comprising a plurality of relatively movablescales arranged side by side for readycomparison, and indices therefor,one of said scales being fixed and reading from one end to the other,and two of said scales being movable and provided with Zero points andeach reading in both directions from said points respectively, saidindices being kadjustable with respect to the said fixed scale, and oneof the movable scales being gage indexed in one direction on white andin the opposite direction on black.

3. An indicator, comprising a plurality of relatively movable scalesarranged side by side for ready comparison, and indices theretion, onebeing .rigid and fixed on said frame part and readable throughout itslength in one direction, and another being belt-like and readable inboth directions from its zero point.

5. A bar comprising a pair of side plates, a series of blocks mountedbetween said plates in spaced relation including a middle block and twoend blocks, a designation plate secured to one of the end blocks,pulleys mounted in the spaces at the ends of the middle block, and abelt on said pulleys, said middle block and belt having commensuratescales thereon and said scales being provided with movable indicesrespectively.

G. An indicator, comprising a body part and a pluralityof relativelymovable scales arranged side by side for ready comparison, indicestherefor, and a pair of stops on said body, one of said scales beingfixed on said part and reading from one end to the other, and two ofsaid scales being movable and provided with zero points respectively,and each reading in bo'th'directions from said points, said indiceseach'being positively ad justable with respect to the said fixed scale,and said Zero points having means adapted to engage said stops to arrestsaid movable scales in one direction.v

7. A device of the character described, including a peripheral framepart adapted to serve as a support, and a medial panel of complexcharacter carried thereby, the latter comprising a series of bars eachfastened detachably to said frame part and each having a distinctivedesignation representing an individual or team, a movable member mountedslidably on each of said bars for endivise movement, said bars eachhaving a fixed scale to which said members are related respectively,whereby the position of each member may indicate the standing of thecorresponding individual or team.

8. A device of the character described, including a support and aplurality of record strips secured demountably thereon, said support andeach of said strips having complementary fastening means one of which isresilient for automatic engagement when the strip is pushed into place,and means for insuring accurate alinement of the strips on said support.

9. A device of the character described, including a support and aplurality of mutually related scale bearing record strips secureddemountably thereon, each of said strips having rigid engagement withsaid support at one end in positive alinement with the other strips andautomatic yielding engagement with said support at the opposite endwhereby they may be readily slipped into and out of place manually.

10. A comparigraph chart of the character described, including aperipheral frame adapted to serve as a support, and a medial panel ofknoclcdown interchangeable charactercarried thereby, the lattercomprising a series of demountable scale bars disposed across saidframe, each of said bars having distinctive means representing acompetitive unit, and the scales on said bars being manually adjustableand adapted to indicate the relative standing of the correspondingunits.

11. A comparigraph chart of the character described, including aperipheral frame adapted to serve as a support, and a medial panel ofknock-down interchangeablechan acter carried thereby, the lattercomprising a series of scale hars each fastened detachably to said frameand each having a distinctive designation representing an individual orteam, a movable member mounted slidably on each of said bars for endWisemovement, said bars each having a scale to which said members aremeasurably related respectively, whereby the position of each member mayindicate the standing of the corresponding individual or team, and asecond such movable member adapted to indicate a previous record.

12. A comparigraph chart of the charac ter described, including a suport and a plurality of scale bars secure demountably thereon, saidsupport. and each of said bars Lerares having complementary fasteningmeans one of Which is resilient for automatic engagement when the stripis pushed into place, and means for insuring accurate alineinent of thestrips on said support, corresponding means all being `disposed at thesame ends respectively.

13. A comparigraph indicator, comprising a body part and a plurality ofrelatively movable scales arranged side by side thereon for readycomparison, and indices therefor, one of said scales being ixed andreading from oneend to the other, and two of said scales being movableand provided With Zero points and each reading in both directions fromsaid points respectively, said indices being adjustable with respect tothe said fixed scale, one of said movable scales being legiblydesignated and adapted to show present current accomplishment and theother past current accomplishment.

14, rfhe method of maintaining a current indication and comparison ofvariable rate accomplishments, which consists in currently adjusting thesetting of a plurality of positive and negative-reading sliding recordscales with respect to a commensurate positive-reading stationary scale.

15. The method of indicating currently the ratio of fulfilledaccomplishment to full quota accomplishment, which consists in settingan index on a `uniform scale to mark the quota and currently settinganother relatively movable scale reading both positively and negativelyfrom a zero point, With its said point opposite the first scale at apoint corresponding with fulfilled accomplishment.

1G. The method of indicating and comparing degrees of accomplishment bya plurality of contestants, which consists in providing and groupingtogether a number of corresponding unit indicators in definite relativeposition, and numbering same currently in accordance With the relativecurrent accomplishments.

17. A comparigraph, including a support, a plurality of individualindicators mounted thereon, and interchangeable designation vmeans onsaid support opposite said indicators adapted to show currently therelation of said indicators to one another, said indicaters havinglongitudinally movable scales reading in both directions from a zeropoint, said scales being colored a certain Way in one direction andanother Way in the opposite direction to facilitate visualizing anyinstant position of the scales as a Whole.

Signed at Chicago this 9th day of May,

WM. R. WILLIAMSON.

